Remember This Song
by Black Alnair
Summary: I remembered you with my soul clenched in that sadness of mine that you know. - Pablo Neruda. Post-D/G relationship, current D/A and H/G relationships. Told from Ginny's perspective. Prelude / three parts / accompaniment. COMPLETE.
1. Prelude

**Prelude: Whisper**

**Relationships**: former Draco/Ginny, current Draco/Astoria, Harry/Ginny. The story is told from Ginny's perspective.

Includes three parts and an accompaniment.

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Tom whispers low and sinister in her ear, "He'll never be yours."

She has not heard that voice in years. The girl that once grasped at a mere illusion of a Hero now has a husband, children and duty. This has pushed the dark desires back into the recesses of her mind and she does not visit.

But now, Tom is whispering again as she stands before Astoria Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 1

**Remember This Song, Part I**

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

James rolled his eyes up, trying to survey his mother's failed attempts at flattening his thick fringe. "Ouch!" he cried as she tapped him sharply on his head with the end of her wand. "That's not going to work either!"

Ginny sighed in frustration and let her wand drop. She used to be good at hair charms but she had been out of practice for years. It was enough work trying to get the children to eat their cabbage to bother with something like their hair. Obviously it didn't matter anyway – not even the strongest charms seemed to make a difference. She pulled her own hair back and twisted it in her hands absentmindedly. James eyed her warily before leaning down and handing her the wand she dropped. She was always twisting her hair into a messy bun and keeping it up by sticking her wand through it. "Sorry, Jamie," she said, taking the wand from him.

"Don't call me Jamie. I'm an adult now," he said frowning at her.

"Oh? Is that so? You're twelve, you know," she replied teasingly.

"I'm nearly thirteen!" he argued. He licked the palm of his hand and brought it up to his head. With broad strokes, he applied it to his wayward hair. It wasn't the effect that Ginny was hoping to achieve with her bungled charms but at least, it was no longer sticking straight up.

"I guess that will have to do," Ginny muttered. She reached out to straighten her eldest son's collar.

"I don't even know what the big deal is. It's just the Malfoys. They're not even staying – they're just dropping their git of a son – _ow!_" James backed away from his mother. "That's abuse!"

"Oh, I barely tapped you," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "And don't say that – you know Albus doesn't have very many friends."

"Why would he? He's a _Slytherin_," James replied, spitting out the last word like it was a curse in his mouth. She remembered her husband doing the same thing when he was about their son's age. Ginny rubbed a weary hand over her face. Some things never changed.

Suddenly, Albus's small but rapid steps were rushing down the hall, past the open door of James' bedroom, and down the stairs. "They're here! They're here!"

"He must have seen them from the window. I bet my wand he was sitting there all morning," James said as he turned away and made his way downstairs.

Ginny closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. She knew she would never be fully prepared for the moment where she would meet Draco Malfoy again, much less his wife _and_ son, but it didn't make it any easier. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. She was now thirty-seven, compact-looking with wispy red hair pulled into a bun and lines marking the edges of once pouty lips. She reached up to pull her wand out of her hair but remembered how he used to run his pianist hands through her waist-length locks and she put her hand down.


	3. Chapter 2

**Remember This Song, Part I****I**

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

He wasn't there. Both relief and frustration flooded through her. She had spent three days cleaning and reorganizing the house, two days weeding the garden and the entire morning getting the children looking presentable. At the very least, the manual labor helped distract her from Albus' request that Scorpius Malfoy come visit during Easter hols.

'Coward,' Ginny thought bitterly as she stared at the near empty yard. The children had already run off but Harry was still there. His back was to her and he blocked most of her view of Astoria Malfoy but she could see the edge of her white muslin dress. Ginny smoothed her own plain cotton dress. Harry was always telling her that she should get something _nicer_ but with three children running about, she had no use for nice dresses. Her lips twisted into a wry smile – she wished she had listened to him now.

She pushed open the screen door and stepped out onto the back porch. She had never seen Mrs. Malfoy before though Ron told her she had been at Platform 9¾ that September when they saw off their respective children. She had been a mess that day with getting the kids ready while Harry sat at the kitchen table with his boots propped up, reading the _Daily Prophet_. Her hair was greasy and tangled, there was syrup on her jumper and she had suddenly felt like the housewife that she had become but never thought she would be. She had focused her attention on the children the entire time they were at King's Cross and refused to look up, fearing that if she did, she would find his mercurial eyes staring back at her or even worse, looking _through _her.

She remembered sitting up that night, wondering what his wife looked like. It was easier to do that than think of him. She knew she was a Greengrass before she married Draco so she tried to conjure up an image of Daphne - brown hair, green eyes, pretty. Of course pretty but Ginny couldn't remember much about the Slytherin girl and so bitter Jealousy lured her down another path, to another image. Blonde hair and icy eyes. Long limbs and cold hands. A disdainful glare and red lips twisted in a sneer. A witch she had nothing in common with – except a silver-eyed wizard.

"You must be Ginny."

She didn't realize she had nearly reached them until the bell-like voice spoke. Ginny came to a sudden stop – she didn't really realize till this moment that she wasn't ready for this either. She wasn't ready to face Astoria Malfoy and find out she was nothing like she expected. Of course she was pretty but not cold and disdainful like Ginny thought she would be, like she hoped she would be. She was petite, with long brown locks falling over her shoulders and velvet doe eyes, a disarming smile and a small chin. She looked young, a white ribbon tied just above her ears and knotted to the side, holding her hair back, and a cream sash wrapped around her middle. She held out her hand but Ginny had stopped several feet short of her and Harry.

"I'm Astoria," she said, jerking forward so suddenly that Ginny thought she would fall. Ginny had put her arms out reflexively but dropped them as she watched Astoria take several labored and awkward steps toward her. She was disabled.

Ginny automatically took the small white hand offered to her. "It's nice to meet you," she said with a swallow. She didn't know how she managed to speak but it did help to look over Astoria's shoulder rather than at her.

"No, the pleasure is all mine. I've heard so much about you," the other woman replied, shifting into her view as though she knew that Ginny was trying to avoid looking at her.

"You have?" Ginny choked out. Her eyes widened at the thought – she couldn't imagine what Draco could have told his wife about her that would engender such a sincere smile from the woman.

"Yes," Astoria said, nodding. "Your brothers love talking about you and of course, Harry, too." Ginny's look of confusion prompted Astoria to continue. "Oh, perhaps it hasn't come up before. I work with your brother Bill and sometimes Draco goes to those pick-up Quidditch games. I'm sorry I haven't seen you there but you have such a busy household to manage."

Harry stepped in, his hands in his pocket as he looked sheepishly at the grass he always forgot to water. "Yeah, Malfoy brings Scorpius sometimes so Astoria comes along, too." Of course it never occurred to him to tell his wife that he played Quidditch with his childhood nemesis until she looked like a fool in front of someone else. No wonder Harry had so easily approved of Scorpius's visit. It seemed, unlike their own children, Scorpius was interested in Quidditch. It had been a huge disappointment for Harry that James didn't like flying and neither of them foresaw how James' rebellion would lead to Albus and Lily's disinterest as well. And now he was relying on Scorpius Malfoy of all people to change this.

Ginny clenched her fists and bit her lip. She was good at constraining her anger to a slight tremble nowadays. She hated snapping at him in front of the kids and she wouldn't do it in front of Astoria Malfoy either. She would later let Harry know that it was unfair of him to pressure the kids this way and find out why he was playing Quidditch with Draco. She needn't ask why he didn't tell her. It was just like Harry not to even _think_ of saying some thing.

Ginny turned abruptly towards Astoria. "You work?" Ginny winced. She didn't mean to sound so astonished though she was – the thought that Draco Malfoy's wife _worked_ never entered her mind.

Astoria's wide dark eyes shifted from Ginny to Harry and back again for a moment before she nodded. "I'm a magical theorist like your brother but my field of interest is Arithmancy. I used to work at home but with Scorpius at Hogwarts now, I rather not stay there by myself. I work in the office at Diagon Alley." She smiled her wide, disarming smile. "It's nice to be amongst all the bustle and the people and now Draco can come by during his lunch break to take me out."

Ginny wanted to tell Astoria that she didn't want to know the intimate details of Draco's life with her because she had kept the Draco she had known in a box in her head while the real one grew and changed into someone she didn't know anymore. She was afraid of the one that now lived in the present day – afraid of realizing that he had changed and wondering whether she had changed him for someone else, for the woman standing before her on bent legs. But it didn't matter – there were a hundred things she wanted to say that she didn't. She only nodded in return.

"I wonder what's keeping Malfoy so long," Harry groused.

Astoria, having already grasped Harry's failure to communicate properly with his wife, turned to Ginny and explained, "Scorpius was so excited to get here that he forgot his broom. Draco went to get it. It's incredible to me how on-task Draco can be when he sets his mind to it but you know how his mind wanders and he starts humming under his breath without realizing…" Astoria trailed off and let out a puff of air. "I mean…" she tried again but broke off and smiled apologetically, her pity apparent in the dark pools of her eyes.

She knew. She knew all of her husband's secrets, about Ginny and a past twenty years in decay for him but still alive in Ginny Potter. Ginny looked away, remembering how Draco would hum into her hair and she would laugh and he would pull back with a scowl and ask her what the matter was, and Ginny could see now, beyond Astoria's shoulder, that Draco Malfoy was in her backyard holding his son's broom.


	4. Chapter 3

**Remember This Song, Part I****II**

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Ginny stood by the window – safely separated by the glass – as Draco Malfoy carried his wife on his back, her nearly useless legs dangling in the air, her arms around his neck. Scorpius was following closely, one hand on his mother's dress like he was a young child. In his other hand, he held his broom and he used it to wave goodbye to the assorted Potters outside. Ginny could hear Albus and Lily shout their last goodbyes as the Malfoys headed up to the Apparation point. James merely stood by Harry, apparently too old to indulge in enthused farewells.

Ginny stepped away from the window. She had told them she couldn't possibly leave the roast in the oven at the moment. It would be ruined. James had looked as though he wanted to make a comment – she wasn't exactly a good cook, it seemed that Ron of all the Weasleys had inherited their mother's touch, but James was reluctant to make fun of his own family in front of Scorpius.

Ginny was poking at the ruined roast when Albus burst through the kitchen door to catch his mother around the middle to hug her. "Thanks for letting Scorpius come over, Mum."

She touched her second child's face. Ginny had never seen Albus as excited as he was these last couple of days. He was shy and reticent with his own cousins, sometimes even with his own siblings. He lacked James' confidence and Lily's curiosity. He suffered from her occasional failures of heart and it hurt her more than she could ever give voice to. "You're welcome, love. Did you thank your father, too?"

Albus grinned. "We all know you run the show, Mum."

Ginny wanted to laugh. She wasn't so sure about that. She hadn't felt like she had taken command of her own destiny since she was sixteen. But Albus was right, she was in charge of something – _this _household at the very least. She had always felt that it was more of a default position but looking down at her son's happy face, it was hard to argue otherwise. "Why don't you get ready for dinner?

"Okay, Mum. Thanks again." He reached up to her and she leaned down to let him kiss her on the cheek.

The rest of the family returned at a more sedate pace. It seemed like Lily was trying to get James to carry her on his back but he was flatly refusing. "You're my _sister_, not my wife. I don't have to do anything."

"You have to get ready for dinner," Ginny said, pointing upstairs.

"Yes, Mum," James grumbled, taking Lily's hand.

Harry had already settled at the table. Ginny usually had his usual cup of tea – two bags of Bergamot with milk and sugar – ready for him. Instead, she stood by the table, watching him. He didn't look impatient or particularly expectant but he did look up at her after a moment, when it was clear she hadn't moved.

"Where's the tea?"

"I didn't make it."

"Oh." And he pushed his chair back and got up. He hovered over the stove. It was apparent he didn't know what to do.

Ginny sighed and pushed past him. "Could you get the milk and sugar? I'll make it."

With a few flicks of her wand, she had two cups of tea ready for them. She placed them on the table and sat across from him. Usually, she would set his tea in front of him and then return to the stove but the burnt roast was already sitting on the counter. It wasn't like she could unburn it at this point.

Harry had followed her gaze towards dinner. "I'm sure it's tender on the inside."

Ginny let out a quick bark of laughter. Harry could never be honest about these kind of things. She supposed that she should be thankful he had put up with nearly fifteen years of poor cooking without complaint.

"Astoria invited you to dinner."

Ginny turned quickly back to Harry. "What? Why would she do that?"

Harry was frowning at the milk and sugar before him. Ginny reached over and grabbed his chipped cup. She poured in the proportions he liked. It seemed to help Harry refocus on her response.

"Why not? Our sons are friends and she's nice. She knows half your brothers." Harry retrieved his cup from her. "You should get out of the house more."

"I'm busy," she replied automatically. "We have children, if you don't recall."

"I can take them for a few hours."

Ginny looked up at him.

"What? I do that sometimes," he replied, pushing his hand through his hair. It made the ends stick up and Ginny fought down the urge to tap her wand against his head. She knew it wouldn't do anything.

She couldn't tell Harry that she didn't want to be friends with Astoria Malfoy, that she couldn't' be friends with her any more than she could face Draco Malfoy today. It was terribly un-Gryffindor of her to hide away in the kitchen when the Malfoys came by to pick up their son – it was odd to think that the last time she had acted in an un-Gryffindor fashion, it had been with and for Draco Malfoy.

"They seem to be an odd pair," she said, trying to steer the conversation in another direction. She frowned though – she hadn't meant to talk about Draco and his wife.

"Malfoy and Astoria?"

Ginny shrugged in response, not looking up at her husband.

"I suppose but they work. No marriage is perfect anyway."

"Well, he seems to care for her," Ginny offered, wondering if Harry was making a vague comment about marriage or not.

Harry laughed. He had to put down his cup before replying, "C'mon, Gin, I know none of us were particularly keen about Slytherins when we were in school but give Malfoy some credit. I would say he loves her."

He lifted his cup to take a sip while Ginny picked up a spoon, dipped it in her tea and stirred with great restraint. She wondered when the children would come down. Albus was usually the first one in the kitchen when they didn't have any guests – other than Scorpius it seemed – so she listened for his hurried steps, knowing it would drown out the beating of her heart when she thought of Draco's hushed voice whispering about love.


	5. Accompaniment

**Remember This Song, ****Accompaniment**

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Quills. Robes. _Hogwarts, A History, 16__th__ ed. revised._ Ginny mentally checked off the items she'd gathered in preparation for Lily's first year at Hogwarts. It seemed she had everything – except her daughter. She had dropped off her precocious youngest child at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Shopping with Lily usually doubled the length of any trip and there were simply too many errands to run today.

Without Lily burning off some witch's eyebrows or toppling over a display of Remembralls, it seemed that she had finished early. Perhaps they could swing by Florean Fortescue's for some ice-cream.

As she weaved in and out of the pre-start-of-the-school-year crowd at Diagon Alley, she heard a bell-like voice call her name. She instantly knew it was Astoria Malfoy. She moved to quicken her steps but the shuffling of Astoria's uneven gait made her pause. She would not force a disabled woman to run after her.

Ginny was not surprised that Astoria looked as young and pretty as she did the first time she had met her. The other woman was wearing a soft yellow dress and had a white Poet's Narcissus in her hair. "I was afraid you didn't hear me," Astoria said, smiling as she approached.

"Sorry, I'm in a rush," Ginny replied, hoping that would stave off the other woman. Astoria had been persistent in inviting Ginny to Quidditch games, teas and soirées, but Ginny always refused. It had become a routine for her to open the window, detach the note from the regal eagle owl's leg and throw it away without even opening it.

Astoria sighed, the smile falling from her pretty face. "It's been twenty years, you know."

Ginny curled her fingers into the palms of her hands. Her nails were short but she dug them into her skin till she could feel the pain there instead of elsewhere. She didn't need Astoria to tell her what she was talking about. It could only be about Draco, it could only ever be about Draco. "Are you saying time heals? Because –"

"No, I'm not saying that," Astoria quickly replied. "It's not time – at least, not the mere passage of time – that does anything. But things _do _change in time. _People_ change in time. Draco is not the boy you left twenty years ago."

Ginny turned from Astoria's dark eyes. She didn't need to be reminded that it had been her.

"Look…" Astoria began again, her voice heavy as though she understood. But how could she possibly understand?

"Astoria."

Ginny looked up sharply. Draco was approaching them. He came up and stood beside his wife. Astoria smiled up at him and he placed his hand lightly on the small of her back before turning to her. "Mrs. Potter," he said with a nod. No one called her that. She always insisted on everyone calling her Ginny but she didn't say anything, she merely nodded in return without looking at his pale grey eyes.

"I'll be there in a moment, Draco."

He looked between the two women before nodding in acquiescence. Ginny watched as he took his wife's fingers and squeezed them before letting them go and moving away.

Astoria shuffled forward and placed that hand lightly on the Ginny Potter's arm. Ginny forced herself to look at the other woman's eyes and it made her feel Gryffindor for the first time in a long time. Astoria smiled at her and she leaned in as though she were sharing a secret, "I told him one day he would love me."

She pulled back and left it at that. Ginny knew she had meant it kindly but she also knew, as she watched Astoria lurch her way back to Draco and he held his hand out to her, if he hadn't loved her always, he did now. She was sure of it. Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of Lily who had seen that her mother was only a few stores away and came skipping out towards her, singing a lullaby that Ginny used to sing to her before bed. It had been a long time since Ginny sang it to her, since Lily asked her to, and it made her smile to think of when she did. Ginny walked towards her singing daughter, picked her up, and did not look back.

- _La Fin -_


End file.
